In the Hero's Shadow (Teaser)
by Random Equinox
Summary: Teaser for my novelization of Lair of the Shadow Broker, which takes place after The Hero We Deserve and The Hero Who Loved Me. Will be deleted and replaced by the actual first chapter of In the Hero's Shadow next year, so save your reviews, etc. for 2013.


_**Author's Note**__: A while ago, I asked reviewers what fanfic they wanted me to work on next. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the majority voted for my take on Lair of the Shadow Broker. One of the things that did surprise me, however, was the timing: by the time we met the benchmarks I'd arbitrarily set, it was pretty close to Christmas. So I thought to myself: why not wait a little longer and release a teaser as a Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever holiday you may or may not observe) treat?_

_Below you'll find the first bit of the first chapter of In the Hero's Shadow, just to tide you over the holidays. Once The Hero We Deserve and The Hero Who Loved Me are finished, then I'll delete this teaser and post the actual first chapter in its entirety. _

_It is for that reason that I encourage readers NOT to bother reviewing, favoriting or following this teaser. Once I delete it, all your hard work (or mouse-clicks) will be gone, and you'll have to do it all over again. Of course, if you choose otherwise, there's very little I can do to stop you, is there?_

* * *

**In the Hero's Shadow Teaser**

**Foreword**:

It may surprise readers to know that preparing compilations of Shepard's personal logs for limited release is a complicated and involved undertaking. From compiling related logs, to coding them into a format that can be read by various programs in multiple languages, to the inevitable research required to provide the origin ofsome obscure minutiae or musical piece that Shepard invariably refers to—this takes a great deal of time. Time that I have less and less of, given the increasing demands and responsibilities I have to bear. Chief amongst those demands is balancing the conflicting priorities _of_those _who_would see greater galactic cooperation between species and those who would prefer a stronger advocacy _for_humanity on the galactic stage.

Providence offered an unexpected, but most assuredly welcome, answer to my plight. The series of personal logs pertaining to the next mission I had intended to edit and submit had already been reviewed by Dr. Liara T'Soni of the Asari Republics. After reviewing Dr. T'Soni's work, I could not find it in myself to change any of her additions, whether factual or grammatical. In fact, I believe it offers a more personal and firsthand account than I would be able to provide myself. To those who raise the inevitable criticisms that this constitutes a security risk to the Systems Alliance and a detrimental blow to humanity's interest, I would like to point out that Dr. T'Soni has been granted security clearance equivalent to, if not exceeding, most of the Alliance diplomatic and military community. This clearance has been earned and proven time and time again.

As for those parties who have been clamouring for this move under the auspices of further inter-species diplomacy, I offer an ancient human aphorism: be careful what you wish for.

I trust readers will find the following logs both informative and enlightening.

Sincerely,

David Anderson

Councillor, Citadel Council

* * *

**Editorial Note**:

My name is Dr. Liara T'Soni, and I have the honour and privilege of counting Commander Shepard amongst my closest and most trusted friends.

At the time of this submission, I was in a period of introspection, reviewing the events and decisions that had shaped my life thus far. I found it striking that several of the events that shaped the course of my life included Shepard's presence and participation—whether direct or otherwise. After all, humans, like so many other species, live a mere fraction of an asari's lifespan. But as a student of history, current events and knowledge, perhaps I should not find that surprising. While they may be amongst the youngest races of the galactic community, they have more than compensated for their initial inexperience and physical limitations with an impressive degree of adaptability, an inexhaustible sense of curiosity and wonder, and an unrelenting drive, determination and ambition that is unsurpassed. Shepard, in particular, embodies all of these qualities in the most positive sense, so it is no wonder that he had such an influential impact on my life.

In the course of my introspection, I uncovered an early draft of Shepard's private logs, detailing his personal thoughts, opinions and perspectives on one of the pivotal moments of my life. I must confess to reading it over and over again, each time marvelling at how he saw things. Remembering the events through my own eyes. Examining my decisions and debating whether I would have made different choices with the knowledge and experience I now possess.

It was when I caught myself making annotations that I took a moment to reconsider my actions. Did this constitute an invasion of Shepard's privacy? Was I selfish in using Shepard's personal thoughts as a means of coming to terms with my own life? What right did I have to boldly dig through his history to better understand my own? It was with those questions in mind that I went to Shepard and apprised him of my actions.

Rather than berate or scold me, Shepard was sympathetic to my plight. He admitted that he used these personal logs as a means to 'decompress,' if not figure out 'how [he] got into so many messes and disasters.' He told me that if they had a similar effect on me, then I was welcome to peruse his words and thoughts, and that he trusted me to exercise the appropriate amount of discretion.

I humbly took him up on his generous offer and refined the draft into a more polished final transcript. As he had hoped, I found it a cathartic and enlightening experience. It is with similar gratitude and appreciation that I present these logs to those with sufficient security clearance. I have tried to maintain a balance between objective editorial changes—such as dividing the logs into chapters for easier reading and the inclusion of certain footnotes for factual clarification—and personal, subjective additions. Any failure to do so reflects on me entirely.

Sincerely,

Dr. Liara T'Soni


End file.
